The United States did not tax alcohol between the end of the War of 1812 and July 1, 1862, when it started on a path of taxing the heck out of alcohol. “[T]he importation of opium specially prepared for smoking purposes, which did not exist in 1865, has in latter years increased enormously; rising from 12,554 lbs. in 871 to 77,196 lbs. in 1880, and 298,153 lbs. in 1883; Continue reading An unintended consequence of alcohol taxes?

Two independent sources tell me that Republicans, who now control the North Carolina Legislature and will soon gain the Governorship, plan to tax all sales and services at a uniform rate. Nine percent might allow them to repeal the personal and corporate income taxes. Local taxes could push the total take past 10 percent.

To keep the rate at 9 percent, they would have to tax everything: hospital bills, prescription drugs, business services like lawyers’, you name it. Once they make exceptions, the rate has to go up to stay revenue neutral.

Simplicity only, fairness not at all. We’ll see what happens. The history of taxation leads me to think fairness won’t be shut out for long.

America would probaly not see $25 billion in marijuana taxes, but that’s a straight line extrapolation from the most official estimate around. According to an official state Fiscal Note,[1] Washington State’s enacted I-502 will raise some $564 million in taxes in fiscal 2015. Extrapolating that per capita estimate, the revenue figure for the nation would be over $25.7 billion.[2] That number is too high, probably, but not by an order of magnitude. Continue reading National Marijuana Tax Revenue — $25 Billion?

On Sunday’s MSNBC’s Up with Chris Hayes, Tony Dokoupil said, “Canada had to repeal a tax that was $5 an ounce in the nineties – because of evasion.” So he reasons that marijuana selling at retail for $100 an ounce pre-tax cannot bear a $25 retail tax. I think that’s way wrong.

Sure, people may not pay $5 per ounce extra a for tax-paid cigarettes when a reliable competing product comes hermetically sealed in a recognizable branded package, designed by a deep-pocketed manufacturer to prevent counterfeiting and having borne tax payment somewhere. Virtually all the evasion of tobacco taxes in the developed world involves tax-paid product crossing jurisdictional borders.